


A New Home

by the_ghostwriter96



Series: The Basement [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M, Pompous Pep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 00:58:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ghostwriter96/pseuds/the_ghostwriter96
Summary: Vlad brings Danny back to his home after taking him from the basement, and Danny is adjusting.This one is a little more shippy, so definitely Pompep





	A New Home

Darkness surrounded the car, with periodic light as they drove beneath streetlamp after streetlamp. The car’s radio glowed in the dark, and so did the little numbers and circles behind the steering wheel, but besides that there was only darkness. The radio played a talkshow, quiet with low volume, like the one that Danny used to listen before his parents took away his radio so that he wouldn’t ‘hear something he shouldn’t’.

That thought, of his parents, made him sniffle, bringing his feet up onto the seat so that he could hug his knees. His kid’s meal- chicken nuggets and fries- sat on the floor, the scent rising up but he didn’t feel hungry. He didn’t know if he’d ever feel hungry again; all he felt now was sick, and afraid, and guilty. He sniffed again, trying his best to do it quietly so that Vlad wouldn’t notice he was upset, but even if he had been quiet enough the headlights dimmed as tears prickled his eyes and Vlad glanced over at him.

“Daniel-“

“It’s okay.” He interrupted in a near-whisper, turning his face to look out the window into the dark night, at the dark trees and the occasional car. “I know.” He had to stay calm, until they got to Vlad’s house and Vlad helped him suppress his powers. Then he could cry and scream and do whatever he wanted to do, because nothing would happen. But in the meantime, they had to “stay calm _together_ ”, Vlad had said, to make sure they got there “without incident”, Vlad had said. And so far, Danny was doing okay.

When he’d get too teary, the lights would flicker or the radio would change stations. If he got angry, the lights got brighter until he calmed down, and he knew they would _pop_ if he got too angry, like they had in the basement.

The basement…

He wanted to go back, already. He wanted to go back to where it was comfortable, and safe, and tucked away from all this _wide open space_ that surrounded them and the car. Inside the car was okay, but he knew he’d have to get out of it again, and even just the thought of it made his heart race. Wide, big, open, where anything could happen and anyone could be. Bad guys, just like Rapunzel had to deal with in the movie. Only they weren’t so bad, after all, and anyway, _Danny_ was the bad guy here.

Because his parents weren’t like Mother Gothel, lying about who his parents were and lying about him being dangerous. They were like Elsa’s parents, locking him away because he was scary and dangerous and- and he could hurt someone. But the thing was, they _were_ like Gothel, too, because they were using him. Vlad showed him, and Jazz explained it, too-

They took him into the garage, where his parents had sealed away his blood. The green, from his blood, into little glass things that plugged into their weapons. ‘Ectoplasm’, Vlad called it, and Jazz said they’d been doing it for years. Where would they get it now, Danny wondered? Where would they find it? Or would they just not have anymore, and they’d lose their jobs and not have any money? Where would Jazz go, how would she eat? He should’ve stayed, he shouldn’t have left.

More tears, more lights flickering, and then there was a hand on his head although, when he looked, Vlad’s eyes were on the road. “It’s alright, Daniel. We’re almost there. Just hold on for another moment.”

Danny nodded, and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Or on Vlad’s sleeve, he supposed; he didn’t have a jacket, and it was cold outside, so Vlad wrapped him up in his own jacket. The heat was on in the car, too, but it didn’t help. Danny still felt cold, and clammy, and shivered whenever he thought too much about things. He took a deep, shaky breath and the hand left his head. He was so tired, too, for some reason. Even though it wasn’t that late, and even though he had slept so long the night before.

After what felt like forever, but according to the screen on the radio was about ten minutes, the car was pulling to a stop in front of a house. A castle, more like, tall with a pointy roof and a rounded section to one corner, and a spirally, spindly black gate that went all the way around. It really, really was like a castle, and Danny would’ve been excited to go inside if it weren’t for… the fact that he’d have to cross though the outside to get there.

Something in his mind thrummed, a low noise of panic in the back of his skull when Vlad turned the car off and opened his own door. Danny didn’t move, staring straight at the dashboard as though Vlad wasn’t there, at his window, tapping on it for him to open the door. He just stared ahead, feeling cold and afraid and he was sweating, suddenly, even though it was so cold.

His door opened, and Vlad was kneeling down beside the car. “Come, Daniel, let’s go inside.” He was speaking softly, and slowly, but Danny just shook his head no. “I’ll carry you, if you’d like. Just once more.” He offered, and this time Danny looked at him. He liked being close to Vlad, and being held by him that way, but he didn’t like the idea of going outside again. Plus, when Vlad had picked him up before, Danny had felt so light and airheaded from the proximity alone that he’d almost floated away, and Vlad had to hold him tighter to keep him from going off into the sky like a balloon.

“…Okay.” Danny nodded, and reached down between his legs to pick up his food before holding his arms out to Vlad. Vlad stood up and leaned into the car, scooping him up- like a prince would carry a princess- and pulling him from the car. Danny wrapped his arms around Vlad’s neck and closed his eyes, picturing the basement in his mind so that he wouldn’t get too scared and break something, or feel too… light, and float away.

The walk was short. There was a pause and jingling of keys as Vlad unlocked his front door, and then Danny was shifting as his feet were lowered to the floor. He didn’t open his eyes until the door was closed, and then-

The house was nice, inside, too. Nice, big, spacey, and the staircase in the first room curved as it went up _just like in a castle_. Danny tightened his grip on his paper bag of food and walked, slowly, and cautiously, out further into the room. There was a doorway on either side of the room, one leading to a dimly-lit living room with a big couch, and the other leading to a hallway, and under the stairs there was a doorway that led to what looked like the kitchen.

He took another step and then froze as something white and darted past him. When he spun around to see what it was, he found a cat, fluffy and fat and purring, rubbing up against Vlad’s leg. He watched as the man knelt down to lift her up, just like he’d done Danny, and scratched behind her ears.

“This is Princess.” Vlad explained, and Danny crept closer. The cat eyed him, but didn’t react much to his presence otherwise, squinting instead as the older man moved to pet above her tail. “You can pet her, if you’d like.”

Danny reached out, hesitant, and touched the cat with his fingers. She made a soft ‘mewl’ sound, turning quickly to look at him, but didn’t seem bothered. And when he pet her back, she purred louder and rubbed her face on Vlad’s button-up. It was only then that Danny realized he still had Vlad’s jacket wrapped around him, but that thought was soon overtaken by the way Vlad was truly, really like a character in his movies. Like a prince, come to save the day.

He lived in a castle, he had an animal friend, and he rescued Danny from the basement just like in movies. “This is like a fairytale…” Danny whispered, and then felt his face heat up when Vlad just looked at him.

“But it isn’t. This is your life.” Vlad said it firmly, and Danny didn’t know what but he felt suddenly like he’d said the wrong thing and like Vlad was unhappy with him. He stepped back, shrugging off the jacket and holding it out to Vlad.

“Sorry.” He murmured, eyes on the floor, but Vlad didn’t take the jacket. Instead, he let the cat down, who quickly pattered into the kitchen, and then put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. Danny liked when Vlad touched him. He liked when Vlad was close to him. He didn’t like making Vlad unhappy.

“Daniel, I know you don’t understand this, but what I’ve done is incredibly risky. I want you to understand that no matter what happens to me, or to you, none of this has been your fault, and you deserve to have a normal, happy life.” Vlad’s tone was still firm, but his eyes were kind and his touch was gentle, and Danny nodded even though he didn’t like what Vlad was saying. He made it sound like…

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Vlad smiled, then, but it was like the smile he had when Jack or Maddie looked at him. It wasn’t the kind that reached his eyes. Only his mouth was smiling. “It’s important to me that you understand that none of this is your fault, is all. Do you understand that?”

Danny blinked, processing what Vlad was saying. None of it was his fault, except… if he didn’t have his powers, if he wasn’t a monster, if he wasn’t dangerous, his parents never would’ve locked him in the basement. If he didn’t have ectoplasm in his blood, his parents wouldn’t have started taking it from him for their weapons and stuff. It _was_ his fault, it was all because of him, none of it would’ve happened if he hadn’t been like this.

Vlad’s grip on Danny’s shoulder tightened, just a little, and his voice was more firm when he spoke again. Not angry, not unhappy, just firm, like there was nothing for Danny to say except to agree with him. “None of this, not a single thing, has been our fault, Daniel. Do you understand?”

Danny just nodded his head, that yes, he understood, even if he didn’t really. Even if it was a lie, and even if it didn’t make sense. It was all his fault, wasn’t it? Every last bit of it was because of Danny, so didn’t that make it his fault?

But Vlad didn’t agree. Just like Vlad didn’t think he was a monster. Vlad didn’t think of himself as a monster, either, even though he was the same as Danny. Bigger, and prettier, and he had a castle and a pet and he wasn’t scared to go outside, and he rescued Danny, but he was still _like Danny_. They were the same. Two people, with the same kind of powers. Only Vlad _looked_ like a ghost, and Danny didn’t. But then, Vlad didn’t all the time- so could Danny, if he tried? He wouldn’t know where to begin.

Vlad stood up, his hand falling away from Danny’s shoulder. “Come, Daniel. I’ll show you the house.”

And Vlad did. He showed Danny the kitchen, which was big, and sleek, and black and silver, and he showed him the big living room with the big couch and a fireplace and he showed him another living room, only this one had a TV and a radio, and he showed him where the bathrooms were, and the bedrooms, including Danny’s bedroom- he’d never had a bedroom before, but the bed was giant and it was soft when Danny climbed up on it.

Then, back in the kitchen, Vlad was looking through the cabinets and Danny was staring at a door that he was pretty sure led… down. What did Vlad’s basement look like? Was it a room, like Danny’s? Or was it full of boxes and stuff, the way that Danny’s basement was at first? Before he moved in? He didn’t want to find out.

“That’s my lab.” Vlad explained, but his voice was reluctant. Like he didn’t want to talk about it. “It’s down in the basement,” Or like he didn’t want to talk to Danny about it, specifically. “If you’d prefer to avoid it,”

“It’s okay.” Danny shrugged, even though he actually didn’t like the thought of going down there. Even though it made the thrumming sound and feeling in the back of his skull start up again, just to think it. “Can we watch a movie?”

Vlad nodded, and then paused, with a box of something in his hand. He set it on the counter, and Danny read the box. He didn’t know the first word that started with a ‘g’, but the second word was ‘crackers’ and he could read the word ‘honey’. “I’ll be back up in a moment, Daniel. Wait here for me. Can you do that?”

Sometimes, Vlad talked to Danny like Danny was a baby. He wasn’t. He didn’t know exactly how old he was- he hadn’t celebrated a birthday in a lot of hundreds of days, but he’d lost count so many times he didn’t know how many hundreds it had been, really. “I’ll wait.” He agreed, and watched as Vlad pulled open the door to the basement, and disappeared into the dark.

Danny waited. And waited some more, and just when he was about to inch closer to the door to see if he could see Vlad, the man was climbing up the stairs, and he had something in his hand. It was something shiny, and metal, with a green ring of glowing light through the middle. Vlad shut the door, and then stepped up to Danny, taking his hand in his own.

“This,” He explained, clasping it around Danny’s wrist. “Will suppress your powers, if I’m correct, until you’ve learned to control them.” He hadn’t let go of Danny’s hand, though, even after the bracelet was on, and the touch tingled. “I know what adjustments to make if it doesn’t work, but it works for me and I’m fairly certain that it will work for you as well.”

“Okay.” Danny said, but he didn’t quite believe it, either. If it was that easy, if all it took was a bracelet, couldn’t he just wear it forever and be a normal person? Couldn’t his parents have made one? Did they know about it?

“Do you remember making the lights from your fingertips? Can you try that, for me?”

Danny nodded, and raised his hands- but when he tried to do the tingly, glow-y stuff, nothing happened and his stomach sank. It was wrong to do it, he knew, he was never allowed and his parents would be so angry if they knew, but… it was part of him, and now he couldn’t do it. He could feel the tingle like it was about to start, like at any second the light would erupt from his fingertips, but it didn’t come.

Relief crossed Vlad’s features, and then he took a step back. “Let’s watch a movie before bed. Does that sound alright to you?”

Again, Danny nodded his head yes. “Can we watch The Little Mermaid?” He asked, and Vlad smiled at him. This time, it was a real smile.

“Of course.”

And so later, they sat on opposite ends of a large couch that seemed to wrap around the room, watching The Little Mermaid on a big TV and eating the honey crackers that Vlad had pulled from the cabinet. They were okay, kind of sweet, but they reminded Danny of cardboard too. He nibbled the corner of one as Ariel started singing; normally, he would sing or hum along, too, but tonight, he didn’t feel much like music. He couldn’t even focus on the movie. His mind just kept going back to this and that, to his parents and how scared they must be to find out he’s not there, to how they’re not going to be able to power their weapons and what if they go hungry?

To how he was hungry, often, because sometimes it seemed like they wouldn’t think to feed him. Anger, raw and gnawing would settle in his stomach then. Vlad explained in the car that it was wrong. That Danny was skinny, too skinny for his age (whatever ‘his age’ was), that he shouldn’t have been locked in the basement like that, that it wasn’t okay for anyone. That it was ‘illegal’ and ‘neglect’ and ‘abusive’, words that sounded bad but Danny didn’t really have a reference for to understand.

But no matter how upset he felt, or how angry he got, nothing bad happened. He wondered, then, if he would float away from the feeling of being close to Vlad, the way he’d almost done before. He looked across the couch at Vlad, and hesitated before setting his cracker on the little table in front of the couch and scooting closer. The man looked at him, but said nothing, just let him get closer until they were sitting so close that they were touching at the sides. Vlad leaned back, draping his arm across the back of the couch behind Danny, and Danny leaned into him, closing his eyes and just- feeling it.

Nothing happened. He still felt light, and airy, and like he might float away, but when he opened his eyes he wasn’t floating. He sat up straight, eyes on the screen when he asked, “Did my parents know about the bracelet?”

For a moment, Vlad was silent. When he answered, his tone was soft. Almost sad. “They had the technology to make one themselves, yes.”

Danny pulled his legs up on the couch, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin on his knees. “Oh.” So they did know. They could’ve stopped him from being… like he was. He could’ve gone to school, he could’ve had a normal life. They just didn’t let him, because they wanted his ectoplasm for their weapons. Anger gnawed sharply at his stomach, and sadness weighed heavily on his shoulders, and tears of mixed emotions prickled at his eyes.

Even so, nothing bad happened. Lights did not flicker, they didn’t get brighter and _pop_ them into darkness, the TV didn’t falter, and Danny did not float away. He was torn between relief at being normal, unease at feeling so close to doing those things yet so far from being able, and anger and sadness at his parents. Emotions were swirling in his mind and he let tears fall silently, staring at the screen so that Vlad wouldn’t notice he was upset.

Rapunzel didn’t cry when she learned that Gothel was a bad guy. She got angry, she tried to leave and that’s what Danny did, too. Danny got angry (and sad and scared) and he left. What was the next step? Danny was not a princess. He would not marry Vlad and live happily ever after (though the idea of it gave him butterflies in his stomach). Would he go to school? Could he just wear the bracelet forever? He wanted to be like the princesses in the movies, strong, and sure, and not so scared and not so sad, but he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He couldn’t stop the sick feeling in his stomach.

By the time the movie ended, the tears had stopped, but not the sick feeling. He lowered, slowly, his feet to the floor and stood up. He was exhausted, for some reason. He hadn’t done much, but he was still tired, the way he was tired after Vlad would visit him in the basement. The problem was…

“I don’t remember where the bedroom is.” He said, and as he said it, he realized that he was sleeping in a bedroom that night. Not the basement, not his bed, not his basement, but a bedroom in a new house. Was he allowed to leave it at night? Was he allowed to wander if Vlad wasn’t with him? He didn’t know, and he was afraid to ask.

“Right.” Vlad stood, and then paused in the dimly lit room, studying Danny’s face. He leaned down, tracing his thumb below Danny’s eye, gathering a tear there with his palm pressed to Danny’s cheek. “Are you alright?”

Nodding, Danny turned away. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t think he could stay calm, if he did. And sure, Vlad had said he wouldn’t have to stay calm anymore but- he didn’t know how to be anything else. He didn’t know how to feel anything but calm. He’d cried more that night than he’d cried in a long time, since he was a little kid, pounding on the door in the dark basement and crying for his parents. He didn’t like crying, and he didn’t like being angry.

Vlad just straightened up, rested a hand on Danny’s back to guide him, and took them both up the stairs again. Dann was aware of Vlad in the doorway as he stripped down to his underwear and climbed under the blankets of his large, soft bed, but it was only when Danny was settled in that Vlad turned out the light and said,

“My bedroom is right across from yours. If you need anything, feel free to wake me.”

Danny nodded, bringing his knees up, back against the headboard.

“I’ll leave the door cracked for you, and the hall light on.”

Danny nodded again.

“Goodnight, Daniel.”

“Goodnight…” He whispered, feeling uneasy as the door mostly-closed. A sliver of golden light from the hallway cast over the floor, wall and ceiling, but it wasn’t enough and with the bracelet, he couldn’t make his own light the way he’d do in the basement.

For a while, Danny just laid there, underneath the blankets and staring at the ceiling. Time ticked on, and the clock beside his bed said ’10:36’ in bold, red numbers. He turned on his side, and thought about his parents. How they probably knew, by now, that he was gone. He turned onto his other side, and thought about how Jazz would have to deal with them. How she let him leave, and didn’t even try to stop him, and how his parents were going to be furious if they knew that. At some point, he sprawled out on his stomach and thought about how his life was going to change.

No more basement. What did that mean? Did it mean no more being hungry between meals? Did it mean going to school? Did it mean going to the grocery store? That thought, the last one, made him scared; the grocery store was the last place that he went before the basement, and what if something happened there? What if something happened when he was at school? Anything could happen, but… the bracelet wouldn’t let it, right? People were safe as long as he kept the bracelet on.

But even so, there was the… outside, between the house and anywhere else. Why wasn’t Rapunzel scared to go outside? She was, a little, at first, but as soon as her feet touched the grass she wasn’t scared anymore. Maybe… maybe that’s all Danny needed to do. Maybe he just needed to step outside, to really step outside, and feel the grass on his feet and air on his skin and then he’d be okay?

After throwing the blankets off himself, Danny lowered his feet to the floor, stood up and walked slowly to the window. He fiddled with it for a moment until it pushed up, and immediately cold air swept in from outside. Cool, nice air, but the low thrumming, the panic, the vibrations were back in his skull as he looked out into the night. He hesitated, and then leaned out the window, propping his arms on the windowsill to get a better view of the night.

Shining, glowing bright in the dark sky, the moon looked back at him. Stars twinkled and sparkled, and he blinked, slowly, feeling a little better. It wasn’t so scary, was it? Not at night, at least, when the cars were quiet and the people were sleeping. It was still too big, still too open, but it was quiet and calm and he could deal with that.

Another thought occurred to him, then; was he _allowed_ to go outside alone?

He yanked his body back inside immediately, panic screaming now in his head as he silently slid the window back closed. Was he allowed outside? Was he allowed to leave the room at all? Spinning, the entire world around him seemed to be spinning, and he stumbled back from the window and crawled into the bed, completely under the covers. Tears were falling now, and he wasn’t even sure why- he hadn’t really done anything, had he? So why was he so upset? Why was he so afraid? He wanted his mom and dad, he wanted Jazz, he wanted _Vlad_!

Danny was off the bed and across the room in seconds, door open and hurting his eyes from the hallway’s light, and sure enough, just like he’d said, Vlad’s bedroom was straight across and his door was cracked, just like Danny’s. He paused at the threshold of the hallway, maybe three feet separating him from Vlad’s room, and stood still.

_…not allowed, not allowed, not allowed…_

“Vlad?” Danny was surprised and embarrassed by the way his voice croaked, but more than that he was relieved when, after several seconds, the door across from him pushed open to reveal a sleepy Vlad.

A Vlad with messy hair, and shaded eyes and only pajama pants and for a second Danny forgot to be afraid. He forgot why he was upset to begin with, distracted instead by looking at the silver hairs on Vlad’s chest- _Danny_ didn’t have hair on his chest- and the way that Vlad was so big. Not big like his dad, but big still, and Danny felt like Vlad could protect him from anything with his firm-looking, muscly arms.

“What’s the matter, Daniel?” Vlad’s voice was groggy, but concerned, and gentle.

Danny made to go towards him, and then hesitated until Vlad held out an arm and Danny realized- he wasn’t locked in there. He was allowed to leave, and he did, crossing the hallway in all of two steps before pressing his face against Vlad’s abdomen and wrapping his arms around him.

Soothing fingers ran through his hair, and Vlad’s voice shushed him softly. “What’s the matter?” Vlad asked again, but Danny was crying again and couldn’t form the words. He just cried, face against the older man’s skin, smearing him with tears but Vlad didn’t seem to mind. “It’s alright, you’re alright.”

It had been many years since Danny really let himself cry. He knew better, he knew it was risky, he knew it was dangerous, so he held it back. Now that he didn’t have to, and since someone was there to let him cry to them, it was like he couldn’t stop. He was crying because his parents lied to him, because they locked him up when they could’ve helped him like Vlad’s bracelet, because he missed them and because he missed Jazz, because he was scared and confused and hurt and- because of _everything_ , and it felt bad, _he_ felt bad, but it felt oddly good to cry.

To be allowed to cry.

Vlad led Danny into his own room with a hand between his shoulders, pushing the door to a crack once they were both inside. Then, he walked Danny over to the bed, and pushed the blankets aside. Once they were both in bed, he pulled the blankets over the two of them, and in the dark, his eyes seemed to glow pink as he looked at Danny.

They laid there, together, until Vlad reached between them to dry Danny’s tears with his thumb, palm to Danny’s cheek for the second time that night. Danny sniffed, and blinked, wondering if his eyes would glow, too, or if the bracelet didn’t let them. The basement didn’t have a mirror in it, not even the bathroom. His parents had mentioned getting one, before, but they never did.

Danny rested his hand on Vlad’s own, because he liked the touch, he liked the feeling, and squirmed closer to him. “Hey, Vlad…?”

“Yes, Daniel?”

“What do you think they’re gonna do since I’m gone?” His voice was a scratchy whisper, but Vlad’s hand against his face helped him feel steady. “Do you think- they know you rescued me?”

A breath through Vlad’s nose was reminiscent of a laugh, but when he spoke, his tone didn’t sound like he thought it was funny. “They don’t know, no, unless Jasmine chose to go back on her word.”

“She knew you were coming?”

“She knew, and more, she was glad.”

“Oh.” So then he’d just have disappeared, and his parents would have no idea where he went. “What if they look for me?”

“Daniel…” Vlad’s voice was soft, as usual, but now it was sad, too. “They won’t. They won’t look for you. They were doing something very, very wrong, and very illegal. They would go to prison if I were to turn them in.”

“No!” Danny sat up, and Vlad shushed him, gently bringing him to lay back down.

“I know. That is a- last resort. I would go, too, for taking you away, but if they turned me in the things they’ve done would come to light.” Vlad explained, and Danny nodded, slowly. “Is this why you were upset?”

Danny shrugged, because kind of, but not really. There were a lot of reasons, and the main one was that he could. When he didn’t say anything else, Vlad pulled him closer, and it was too warm in the room to be that close, but it felt nice anyway, and Danny just closed his eyes and relaxed.

“Goodnight.” He whispered, sleep already edging his consciousness.

“Goodnight, Daniel.” And if Vlad pressed his lips to the top of Danny’s head, Danny was too tired to remember it in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> *begs for comments as usual*


End file.
